The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-02-26

Visitors to we'll known New
York hospital up town frequently
express astonishment at the ap-
pearance and character of the in
mates Of one end of the building.
1t is furnished much like a first
class club house. There are billiard
and chess rooms, smoking apart
ments, elegant parlors and choice
library. The rooms face to the
south, and are inundated with a
flood of cheerful sunlight every
pleasant morning. The latest
newspapers and the freshest maga-
zines are always to be found ON the
center tables. Above this suite of
rooms are bedrooms, with iron
barred windows. Each apartment
is heated by steam, and plainly
furnished. There are no carpets on
the floors. The window curtains
and the clothing on the iron bed
steads are as white as snow, and
the brass knobs surmounting the
feet and head boards are polished
until they shine like gold. White
capped nurses file through the cor
ridors like ghosts, and occasionally
appalling cries are heard from
darkened rooms at the east end of
the edifice. Convalescents are To
be seen in the parlors below. Nearly
all are men of digniiied appearance.
Many are gray-haired, and all are
we'll dressed. Most of them wear
dressing gowns and slippers. All
are well educated, and converse
with readiness on the most inter-
esting topics of the day. You will
find among them a well known ho-
tel proprietor, several brokers and
real estate dealers, one or two Jour-
nalists, few lawyers of inferior in
tellects (including one of unrivaled
brilliancy as an advocate), half
dozen politicians, and a congress
sional clergyman unstained with
heterodoxy. They are a remarka-
bic group. All seem to have gone
through the furnace of intense suf-
fering. Their lips are dry and are
frequently moistened by the action
of the tongue. Their faces arc
bleached and blanched. Subdued
nervousness is apparent in their
eyes and in their manner and bear
ing. They are courtly and polite
in intercourse, but it is the courtli-
ness and politeness of a party of
French mobiles who cannot shake
off memories of the reign of terror.
On the surface all is suavity and
amenity, but beneath it there is a
strong undertow of reserve. They
smile at each jue de-mots and each
jue d'esprit, but they rarely laugh
outright, and they never slap each
other on the knee in the intensity
of their enjoyment. AT times you
see them furtively watching each
other, as though lost in the depths
of mental speculation. Anon they
herd together like sheep in a panic.
Some sit at tables reading or writ
ing with spasmodic energy, and
others play billiards. A very few
are trying to work out abstruss
problems at chess. All appear to
be men of wealth, aimlessly busy
and nervous as to their future.
Care is written on their features,
and each man seems to be cankered
at the heart.
You may fancy this institution
either lunatic asylum or a home
for inebriates. 1t is nothing of the
kind. 1t is simply a ward in the
best hospital in New York city de-
voted to the cure of men who are
from delirium tremens
and mania potu. They pay $40 .
week entrance fee and $50 a week
when convalescing. They receive
the best of care and medical treat
ment. Like old hulks and re-
claimed wrecks, they are thorough
ly fumigated, caulked anew, 70
painted and refitted, and again
made ready for the sea of life.
Many are thrown on their beam
ends in the first gale that follows,
and are promptly returned to this
dockyard of humanity. Others
are swamped outright in typhoons
Of dissipation, and never again see
the refitting station. Its physi-
clans and nurses, however, are ever
busy, day and night, strengthening
frail crafts, bracing them at weak
points, and readjusting their COM
passes. The best ships are the
ones who need the most frequent
and the fastest vessels
are those who 60 to the bottom the
quickest. So says the superintend-